Home Record Recording

[Musicat]

@Mangetout

I remember seeing a standalone ‘make your own record’ booth at an amusements arcade in the late 70s (it looked a bit like a photo booth). I wonder when they actually died out.

My grandmother used one of those to make a birthday record for me. Since she was a dramatic arts teacher, it was natural for her to read/act out a short story. The fidelity was poor, and each playing, since it was an acetate, degraded it further.

I think I still have the record in my basement. I wonder if it is playable at all now – acetate oozes and doesn’t preserve its shape like the commercially pressed 78s.

[whitetho]

@Mangetout

I recently saw a review of a hobby kit to make a device that would supposedly record sound onto wax cylinders (actually candles without the wicks, in the kit).

Not sure if this is what you are referring to, but there was a “Techmoan” review, On Wax/Off Wax - Building an Edison Wax Cylinder Recorder Kit a couple months ago. His conclusion: neat idea, works very, very poorly.